Leadership & Spiritual Development Program - Unity Church of Fort Worth

The Leadership and Spiritual Development Program is a dynamic four-part program developed to help attendees become full participants in Unity Church and at the same time deepen and enrich their own spiritual practice and understanding. In this way we create a critical mass of individuals living from their Oneness with God and each other that brings more light and love to our world.

Unity 101, What is Unity? An Overview.

This course is required for membership. Unity history, its basic teachings and principles, and a closer look at UCFW's mission and vision make up the core of this class. This course is open to anyone desiring to know more about Unity or simply as a refresher course. Unity 101 is a 4 1/2 hour course offered as two classes on two successive Thursday evenings or as one Saturday class. The course is offered in the fall and spring.

Unity 201, The Gift of Service.

The objectives and focus of the class are:
  1. To open to the discovery of the true spirit of service.
  2. To create a sense of how to bring the true spirit of service into every aspect of your life.
  3. To inspire you to serve from the heart.
  4. To empower you to continue to develop and use your gifts and abilities in service to Mother-Father God, Unity Church of Fort Worth, family, friends, and all living things.

This course is offered twice a year in fall and spring in conjunction with Unity 301.

Unity 301, The Essence of Leadership.

For those of you committed to honing or awakening your leadership abilities, this class is for you. This experience will ask you to explore the depths of who you are in order to be able to refine your strengths and loosen the ties that still bind you to old, destructive, fearful emotional patterns and spiritual beliefs. Along with this you will be asked to consider and explore your personal mission. You must have completed Unity 101 and 201 or the equivalent to participate in this class. This course is offered twice a year in fall and spring in conjunction with Unity 201.

Unity 401: Metaphysics I & II

During this course we will explore the fundamental principles of spiritual law and how they can be applied to our life for greater love, health, and prosperity. By studying the works of prominent Unity writers, as well as specific metaphysical and theological views, we will be encouraged to awaken our awareness and understanding of spiritual Truth. Through the consistent use of these practical principles, we will realize more of our spiritual potential and find that our life is transformed!

This course is offered twice a year, Metaphysics I in the spring, and Metaphysics II in the fall.

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love"
Rumi

Core Leadership Meeting

February 2, 2008

41 in attendance, approximately half of the core leadership team

Opening Prayer

Opening Items

Several people have made their transition in the past few days–Anthony deGroat, Julia Jacobs brother, Dub Horn’s mother, Lisa Levey’s grandmother, and Ajit Jhangiani’s mother.
Joanne Burns, SCUCA Youth Representative, is here to review our YFM department and will give us a 30-40 page paper with 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year plans.

Personal Introductions

Activities

Souper Bowl – this Sunday, to raise money for local food banks
February is prayer bear month, to provide bears to Cook Children’s Hospital
UCFW will sign a pledge with Fit Future Fort Worth, a program for health and fitness

Will announce this to the congregation
We can enfold new and current activities into this–garden team, golf team, yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Race for the Cure, Run to Joe’s, etc.
May also start new initiatives–CPR class and program to quit smoking (Breathe Free)
Will need to create a brochure for this as well

Small Groups

Metaphysics I and II classes will begin soon

This will become the new 401 course
Part 1 will be held in the spring and part 2 in the fall
Classes will be on Monday nights, probably for 10 weeks, beginning March 25
This is an in-depth, practical study of metaphysics that covers the 5 Principles. It brings the message to life.
These classes will strengthen groups and leaders
Can be taken for personal development credits at Unity Institute

Kevin Bradley will be teaching a 3-week Metaphysical Bible Interpretation class for Unity Wisdom School
Would like to reinstate the Mayfest, which would cover the small groups like Outreach Fest covers our outreach programs

Board Retreat

The annual board retreat was very successful

The 80/20 principle was discussed during the first half of the retreat
How to retain people, enthusiasm, activity, etc was discussed in the second half
The board has agreed to circulate and meet more new people on Sunday mornings
There are some long-term ideas that the board is thinking about implementing

General Ideas, etc

The board is encouraging us all to show more enthusiasm, friendliness, and smiles, as people are greeted. This has a high return, and visitors will be more likely to return.
We may see ourselves as a small part of the church, but if we are an usher, greeter, etc we are perceived as a leader, and representative of the church. This carries extra responsibility
A suggestion was made that key leadership/staff wear visible ASK ME buttons

May want to train volunteers for this
Create a FAQ list of information covering groups, leaders, descriptions, if childcare is provided, etc. Keep a copy at the information desk also
Also, may want to be more specific – “ASK ME ABOUT VOLUNTEERING”, etc

Welcoming newcomers and congregants–need to have our most outgoing people to meet and greet people each Sunday.

Just meet 3 new people each Sunday, find out 3 things about these people, then follow up with them each Sunday for a month
Introduce yourself, then introduce them to 3 other people
Re-initiate the three-minute opportunity at the end of the service
Find the balance of reaching out without being overwhelming.
Be “prayed-up” when you get here, so that you can be uplifted, uplifting, and greet people easier
You need these extra steps when you are a larger church, to keep that personal connection

Commit to finding answers for people. If someone asks you a question don’t leave it at “I don’t know”. Find out the information and get it to the person.
Wireless Internet–we now have wireless internet for the campus. Forms/agreements are available in the office. This is for church activities only, not for general personal use.
Cancer support group has lost 2 members recently. There is a book called Share the Care, which gives a specific plan of what to do, how to be a resource. It can be very easy.

May revive the Angel Network. People want to help, just don’t know what to do.

Need to initiate a policy of no animals, unless they are service animals, or it’s during pet blessing. Someone brought a dog to active meditation. State in policy–this is due to allergies, fear, disruption, etc. May need to include anything disruptive to classes.
Smoking policy – We’ve had complaints of people smoking in garden area, where children are playing. Limit smoking to designated areas away from children, and 20’ away from doors.

Designate an area by the sanctuary (on the opposite side of the drive-through), and education building (by the parking lot), as smoking areas, and put up “smoke-free zone” signs in garden and wherever necessary.
Bob Courtney has volunteered to monitor this issue through April
We will revisit this issue later

See if we can start a Nicotine Anonymous group, and possibly Overeaters Anonymous
Fifth Sunday Family Service–we’ve had requests to make this more family friendly, with music and messages geared more for children.
Important congregant updates–We received a request to send important information about congregants (medical situations, deaths, etc) to the core leaders. Need to also be respectful of privacy issues. Will revisit this later.
We are looking at the possibility of a Phone Tree system which would automatically call groups, congregation, with important information.

Song

Closing Prayer

Why Do Visioning?
Visioning is the core practice that we are now choosing as a way to invigorate our Unity Church of Fort Worth spiritual community. By practicing visioning together and in each of our visioning teams we will create more aligned ways to work together, deepen our spiritual relationships, and better serve our spiritual community and the world. Visioning is a powerful way to discern a path of action that achieves results far beyond what was thought possible before.

What is the Visioning Process?
Rev. Michael Beckwith, the creator of this visioning approach, says, "Visioning is a process by which we train ourselves to be able to hear, feel, see, and catch God's plan for our life or for any particular project we're working on." It differs from visualization in that we are allowing God's idea to come forth rather than attempting to create specific things that we want to manifest. There are conscious steps of centering, silence, gratitude and more.

The following nine ministries have a visioning team that will have met at least twice by June 19. Each team has four to seven members.
. Worship
. Leadership & Spiritual Development
. Love in Action Service
. Pastoral Care
. Outreach
. Youth and Family Ministry
. Small Groups
. Board of Trustees
. Church Staff

The guidance and spiritual inspiration received in all of these visioning sessions will be provided in summary form to the board of trustees for their annual visioning/strategic planning retreat in June. These inspirations will be the seed thoughts of this retreat out of which will come a spiritually inspired, synergistic, practical plan for our future for the next one to three years.

The 45 or so individuals participating in this visioning experience can vouch for what Beckwith describes as being able "to hear, feel, see and catch God's plan". Beyond June, the ministers, staff, and board are open to how best to continue to let the spiritual energy, arising from this visioning process, work wonders in the consciousness of our spiritual community. We celebrate the Divine outworking of Spirit through us all and affirm with you the Vision Statement of UCFW:

"We are a spiritual center of love and wisdom affirming God's presence in our lives and reaching the larger community in ever-increasing circles of good."